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Anasûrimbor Kellhus
| nicknames = Prince of Nothing Warrior-Prophet Most Holy Prince of God False Prophet The Demon Kurcifra | lived = 4076 or 4077See here for estimation - 4132 | race = Men | ethnicity = Dûnyain (Norsirai) | nationality = New Empire | gender = Male | occupation = Dûnyain Monk Aspect-Emperor of the Three Seas | relatives = Moënghus (father) Maithanet (half-brother) Esmenet (wife) Zikas (concubines) Mimara (stepdaughter) Koringhus (son) Moënghus (adoptive son) Kayûtas (son) Theliopa (daughter) Serwa (daughter) Unnamed child Inrilatas (son) Kelmomas (son) Samarmas (son) Several unnamed children The Boy (grandson) | appearances = The Darkness That Comes Before The Warrior-Prophet The Thousandfold Thought The Judging Eye The White-Luck Warrior The Great Ordeal The Unholy Consult }} Anasûrimbor Kellhus was a former Dûnyain Monk and, as of the year 4112 (Year-of-the-Tusk), Aspect-Emperor of the Three Seas. His New Empire spanned the entirety of the Three Seas and he lead the Great Ordeal across the Ancient North in an effort to directly seek out and destroy the Consult, before it was destroyed before Golgotterath in 4132. Character and appearance Kellhus was tall and strong, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a long, heavy-featured and aquiline face. He wore his hair long, with a close-cropped beard. His features and voice were very similar to those of his father. Like all Dûnyain, Kellhus exhibited extraordinary powers of deduction and persuasion allowing him to manipulate worldborn Men as if they were children. His command of the Gnosis was second to none, making him the most powerful sorcerer in the Three Seas, and—possibly—in the entirety of Eärwa. Background Kellhus was born in Ishuäl, a fortress built in the Ancient North by Anasûrimbor Celmomas II but occupied by the Dûnyain for almost two thousand years. In Ishuäl, the Dûnyain isolated themselves from the world, breeding for reflex and intellect, and continually training in the ways of limb, thought, and face—all for the sake of reason, what they call the Logos. In an effort to transform themselves into the perfect expression of the Logos, the Dûnyain bent their entire existence to mastering the irrationalities that determine human thought: history, custom, and passion. In this way, they believe, they will eventually grasp what they call the Absolute, and so become true self-moving souls. Kellhus was a prodigy even by Dûnyain standards. Before he left Ishuäl, his understanding of the true nature of Eärwa was very limited as the Dûnyain had suppressed knowledge of Sorcery and other metaphysical phenomena. Story ''The Darkness That Comes Before'' Kellhus is sent by his order, the Dûnyain, to search for his father, Anasûrimbor Moënghus, who left them some thirty years previous. Knowing only that his father dwells in the city of Shimeh, Kellhus undertakes the arduous journey travelling through the abandoned North. Eventually he succumbs and is saved by a trapper named Leweth. While wintering with Leweth, Kellhus discovers he can read the man’s thoughts through the nuances of his expression. World-born men, he realizes, are little more than children in comparison with the Dûnyain. Experimenting, he finds that he can exact anything from Leweth — any love, any sacrifice — with mere words. }} When a band of Sranc discovers Leweth’s steading, the two men are forced to flee. Leweth is wounded, and Kellhus leaves him for the Sranc, feeling no remorse. The Sranc overtake him, and after driving them away, he battles their leader, a deranged Nonman, who nearly kills Kellhus with sorcery. Kellhus flees, wracked by questions without answers: sorcery, he’d been taught, was nothing more than superstition. Eventually he finds refuge in the ancient city of Atrithau, where, using his Dûnyain abilities, he assembles an expedition of forty-seven men to traverse the Sranc-infested plains of Suskara. The men call themselves adunyani, meaning ‘little Dûnyain’. After a harrowing trek that only he survives, he crosses the frontier only to be captured by a mad Scylvendi Chieftain named Cnaiür urs Skiötha — a man who both knows and hates his father, Moënghus. Though his knowledge of the Dûnyain renders Cnaiür immune to direct manipulation, Kellhus realizes he can turn the man’s thirst for vengeance to his advantage. Claiming to be an assassin sent to murder Moënghus, he asks the Scylvendi to join him on his quest. Overpowered by his hatred, Cnaiür reluctantly agrees, and the two men set out across the Jiünati Steppe. Kellhus tries to secure the trust he needs to possess the man, but the barbarian continually rebuffs him. His hatred and penetration are too great. }} Then, near the Imperial frontier, they find a concubine named Serwë, who informs them of a Holy War gathering about Momemn — a Holy War for Shimeh. They cross the mountains into the Empire, and Kellhus watches Cnaiür struggle with the growing conviction that he’s outlived his usefulness. Thinking that murdering Kellhus is as close as he’ll ever come to murdering Moënghus, Cnaiür attacks him, only to be defeated. To prove that he still needs him, Kellhus spares his life. He must, Kellhus knows, dominate the Holy War, but he as yet knows nothing of warfare. The variables are too many. Though his knowledge of Moënghus and the Dûnyain renders him a liability, Cnaiür’s skill in war makes him invaluable. To secure this knowledge, Kellhus starts seducing Serwë, using her and her beauty as detours to the barbarian’s tormented heart. Once in the Empire, they stumble across a patrol of Imperial cavalrymen; their journey to Momemn quickly becomes a desperate race. When they finally reach the encamped Holy War they find themselves before Nersei Proyas, the Crown Prince of Conriya. To secure a position of honour among the Men of the Tusk, Kellhus lies, and claims to be a Prince of Atrithau. To lay the groundwork for his future domination, he claims to have suffered dreams of the Holy War. Since Proyas is more concerned with Cnaiür and how he can use the barbarian’s knowledge of battle to thwart the Emperor, these declarations are accepted without any real scrutiny. Only the Mandate Schoolman accompanying Proyas, Drusas Achamian, seems troubled by him — especially by his name. The following evening, Kellhus dines with the sorcerer, disarming him with humour, flattering him with questions. He learns of the Apocalypse and the Consult and many other sundry things, and though he knows Achamian harbours some terror regarding the name ‘Anasûrimbor’, he asks the melancholy man to become his teacher. The Dûnyain, Kellhus has come to realize, have been mistaken about many things, the existence of sorcery among them. There is so much he must know before he confronts his father. A final gathering is called to settle the issue between the lords of the Holy War, who want to march, and the Emperor, who refuses to provision them. With Cnaiür at his side, Kellhus charts the souls of all those present, calculating the ways he might bring them under his thrall. Among the Emperor’s advisers, however, he observes an expression he cannot read. The man, he realizes, possesses a false face. While Ikurei Conphas and the Inrithi caste-nobles bicker, Kellhus studies the man, and determines that his name is Skeaös by reading the lips of his interlocutors. Before he can draw any conclusions, however, his scrutiny is noticed by the Emperor himself, who has the adviser seized. Though the entire Holy War celebrates the Emperor’s defeat, Kellhus is more perplexed than ever. Never has he undertaken a study so deep. That night he consummates his relationship with Serwë, continuing the patient work of undoing Cnaiür — as all Men of the Tusk must be undone. Somewhere, a shadowy faction lurks behind faces of false skin. Far to the south in Shimeh, Anasûrimbor Moënghus awaits the coming storm. The Warrior Prophet, Book I synopsis ''The Warrior Prophet'' Kellhus requires three things to prepare for his father in Shimeh: knowledge of battle and of sorcery, and possession of the Holy War. From the outset, he uses his claim to caste-nobility to insinuate himself into the councils of Proyas and the other Great Names. He proceeds cautiously, patiently laying the groundwork of his domination. From his readings of Inrithi scripture, he learns what the Men of the Tusk expect from a prophetic figure, so he sets out to emulate — as far as he can—all of those characteristics. He becomes a pilot of souls, crafting others' impressions of him with subtle inflections of word, tone, and expression. Soon, almost all those who know him find themselves in awe. Throughout the Holy War men whisper that a prophet walks among them. At the same time, he plies Achamian with particular care. While mining him for his knowledge of the Three Seas, Kellhus subtly conditions him, instilling the passions and beliefs that will eventually force him to do the impossible: teach Kellhus the Gnosis, the deadly sorcery of the Ancient North. In the course of his study, however, he discovers dozens of skin-spies mimicking men in various positions of power. He realizes, moreover, that they now know he can see them. One of them, a high-ranking Shrial Knight called Sarcellus, approaches him, probing for details. Kellhus uses the opportunity to make himself even more enigmatic, into a puzzle the Consult will be loath to destroy before solving. As long as he remains a benign mystery to the Consult, Kellhus realizes, they will not move against him. He needs time to consolidate his position. Until the Holy War is his, he cannot risk an open confrontation. He says nothing to Achamian for much the same reason. He knows the Mandate Schoolman believes him to be the Harbinger of the Second Apocalypse, and that the only thing preventing Achamian from telling this to his Mandate handlers is the recent death of his former student, Inrau, as a result of their machinations. Knowing that Kellhus could actually see Consult agents in their midst would prove too much. And as Achamian himself admits, the Mandate would likely seize Kellhus rather than treat with him as an equal. Once the Holy War secures Shigek, Kellhus begins asserting himself more and more, giving what are called the Sermons of the Ziggurat. Though many now refer to him openly as the Warrior-Prophet, he continues to insist he is simply a man like any other. Knowing that Achamian has succumbed—that he believes him to be the world's only hope — Kellhus finally asks the Schoolman to teach him the Gnosis. But when Achamian leaves for the Sareötic Library to meditate on this request, he is abducted by the Scarlet Spires. Assuming Achamian lost, Kellhus turns to Esmenet, not out of any errant sense of lust, but because her extraordinary native intelligence makes her useful both as a subordinate and as a potential mate. The differences between the Dûnyain and the worldborn makes his bloodline invaluable. He knows that whatever sons he produces, especially by a woman of Esmenet’s intellect, will prove powerful tools. So he begins seducing her by teaching her to read, by showing the hidden truths of her own heart, and by drawing her ever deeper into his circle of power and influence. Far from proving an obstacle, her bereavement actually facilitates his plan by rendering her more emotionally vulnerable and prone to suggestion. By the time the Holy War enters the desert, she has willingly joined him and Serwë in their bed. Despite its calamities, the journey across the desert provides ample opportunity for him to exercise his otherworldly abilities. He rallies the Men of the Tusk with demonstrations of indomitable will and courage. He even saves them, using his preternatural senses to find well-springs beneath the sand. By the time the remnants of the Holy War fall upon Caraskand, thousands upon thousands openly hail him as the Warrior-Prophet. At long last he yields to the title. He names his followers the Zaudunyani, the ‘Tribe of Truth’. But now he faces an added danger. As the numbers of Zaudunyani swell, so too do the misapprehensions of the Great Names. For many, following the dictates of a living — as opposed to a long-dead — prophet proves too much. Ikurei Conphas becomes the de facto leader of the Orthodox, those Men of the Tusk who repudiate Kellhus and his revisionary Inrithism. Even Proyas finds himself increasingly troubled. The Consult, as well, have been watching Kellhus with growing trepidation. In the confusion of Caraskand’s fall, Sarcellus leads several of his brother skin-spies in an assassination attempt that very nearly costs Kellhus his life. Knowing that it might prove useful, Kellhus saves one of their severed heads. Shortly after this attempt, Kellhus is finally contacted by one of his father’s agents: a Cishaurim fleeing the Scarlet Spires. He tells Kellhus that he follows the Shortest Path, and that soon he will comprehend something called the Thousandfold Thought. Kellhus has innumerable questions, but it is too late: the Scarlet Spires approach. To avoid compromising his position, Kellhus beheads the man. When the Padirajah arrives and seals the Holy War up within Caraskand, the situation becomes even more dire. According to Conphas and the Orthodox, the God punishes the Men of the Tusk for following a False Prophet. To defuse their threat, Kellhus plots the assassination of both Conphas and Sarcellus. Neither attempt succeeds, and General Martemus, Conphas’s closest adviser, is killed. The dilemma now facing Kellhus is almost insuperable. The Holy War starves. The Zaudunyani and the Orthodox stand upon the brink of open war. And the Padirajah continues to assail Caraskand’s walls. For the first time, Kellhus is confronted by circumstances he cannot master. He sees only one possible way to unify the Holy War under his leadership: he must let the Men of the Tusk condemn him and Serwë, and trust that Cnaiür, driven to avenge Serwë, will save him. Only a dramatic reversal and vindication can possibly win over the Orthodox in time. He must make a leap of faith. Serwë is executed, and Kellhus is bound to her naked corpse. Then he is lashed to a circumfix and hung from a great tree to die of exposure. Visions of the No-God plague him, as does Serwë pressed dead against him. Never has he suffered so... For the first time, Anasûrimbor Kellhus weeps. Achamian comes to him wild with rage because of Esmenet. Kellhus tells him about the skin-spies, about his visions of the impending Apocalypse. Then, miraculously, he is cut down, and he knows that at last the Holy War is his, and that they will have the ardour and conviction they need to overcome the Padirajah. Standing before the exultant masses, he grasps the Thousandfold Thought.The Thousandfold Thought, Book II synopsis ''The Thousandfold Thought'' Kellhus asks Achamian to teach him the Gnosis again. Though Achamian had been ordered by his Mandate handlers to pretend to give Kellhus the Gnosis and to make sure that no harm comes to him, he agrees but reminds Kellhus that sorcerers are vulnerable to Chorae, Kellhus then insists that Achamian must become his Vizier to be better able to protect him. Kellhus tells Achamian that with him the Tusk is rewritten so that sorcerers are no longer damned. When the Holy War is about to leave Caraskand and continue its march toward Shimeh, Kellhus orders Cnaiür to stay in Joktha with Conphas, in order to kill him. As the Holy War continues its march, Achamian teaches Kellhus Gilcûnya, the arcane tongue of the Nonmen Qûya and the language of all the Gnostic Cants. Kellhus astonishes Achamian by learning the language in less than two weeks. The two discuss the metaphysics of the Gnosis and other sorcery, and Kellhus asks Achamian whether Cants of three strings, one utteral and two inutterals, have been devised. Achamian lies and says that it’s impossible. When Achamian attempts to teach Kellhus the Cants of Calling he realizes that Seswatha prevents him. Only after Kellhus “speaks” with Seswatha is Achamian able to depart knowledge of the Gnosis. Again, Kellhus claims that sorcerers are no longer damned. }} In Amoteu, Esmenet is possessed by the Inchoroi, Aurang, and confronts Kellhus with questions about the Dûnyain and his father. Kellhus at first answers it but then realizes that the Inchoroi had used some sorcery on him and casts a Dara Ward to free himself of its influence. Kellhus baits Aurang by telling him that the No-God says that he failed him on the Plains of Mengedda. Before the Holy War assaults Shimeh Kellhus leaves to meet his father in Kyudea. Cnaiür reveals to Achamian the truth about Kellhus, that he is Dûnyain and that he was summoned by his father, not sent. Kellhus enters a ruined Nonman Mansion where his father is waiting for him. Inside he follows a trail that had been scuffed in the dust. The mansion’s galleries remind Kellhus of Ishuäl’s Thousand Thousand Halls. He continues following the trail and it leads him to a balcony overlooking an immense cavern with curtains of water falling down from above. Below he sees points of light and a platform beyond the reach of the waterfall. He descends a mighty staircase which leads to a vast chamber with a pool in its center. Kellhus advances around the pool and finds his father, white-skinned and pale, sitting cross-legged behind sheets of water that pour from one of a series of immense bronze statues erected in a semi-circle and facing the pool. Moënghus begins to recount Kellhus’s journey, how he came to dominate the Men of the Tusk and the Holy War, but says that the probability trance failed him at the point where the caste nobility moved against him, the Circumfixion. Kellhus tells Moënghus about the visions, the voice of God and the halos around his hands. Moënghus realizes that Kellhus has been broken by his trial, that he has returned to him a ‘madman’. Kellhus begins retelling the story of how Moënghus arrived at Shimeh after leaving Ishuäl. He says that his father made a mistake by taking the Psûkhe, as it is a metaphysics of the heart — of passion — something a Dûnyain would be weak at, and that this is why Moënghus had to ask for his son to help him. }} Moënghus takes Kellhus to a room where he holds two captive skin-spies. The skin-spies had been first discovered by the Cishaurim about twelve years prior, Kellhus deduces. The Cishaurim, assuming this was the work of the Scarlet Spires, assassinate their Grandmaster, Sasheoka. Only Moënghus realized that the skin-spies weren’t sorcerous artifacts, but engines of flesh. So he kept the creatures and interrogated them for years, learning from them about Golgotterath and the Consult — about the Second Apocalypse. Kellhus realizes that his father poses a threat, if Moënghus were to learn of the damnation that awaits him he would be no different from the Inchoroi. He stabs his father and leaves the mansion using the Cant of Transposition just as Cnaiür and ‘Serwë’ are about to enter the room. Kellhus appears on the battlefield over Shimeh and destroys what remains of the Cishaurim. Once Shimeh has been taken, Maithanet declares Kellhus the High King of Kûniüri and Ascpect-Emperor of the Three Seas. Achamian arrives at his court and repudiates him. Kellhus tells him that the next time they meet, Achamian will kneel to him. ''The Judging Eye'' Since the conclusion of the First Holy War Kellhus has unified the Three Seas under his rule. After twenty years of conversion and bloodshed, he plots the conclusion of his father’s Thousandfold Thought. His New Empire spans the entirety of the Three Seas, from the legendary fortress of Auvangshei on the frontiers of Zeüm to the shrouded headwaters of the River Sayut, from the sweltering coasts of Kutnarmu to the wild rim of the Osthwai Mountains—all the lands that had once been Fanim or Inrithi. It was easily the equal of the old Ceneian Empire in terms of geographical extent and likely far greater when it came to population.The White-Luck Warrior, Book IV synopsis He's had four sons and two daughters with Esmenet. During that time, Kellhus established the first School for Sorceresses in Eärwa’s history, the Swayal Compact, which is lead by his daughter, Anasûrimbor Serwa. He has entrusted the Empire to his wife Esmenet as he leads a Holy War against the Consult, the Great Ordeal, which is about to commence its assault on Sakarpus following Harweel’s refusal to surrender the city. Before the battle begins, Harweel warns his son, Sorweel, that the Aspect-Emperor is a Demon Ciphrang, a hunger from the Outside. Once the battle begins, Harweel is killed and Sorweel flees, pursued by Kellhus himself who effortlessly kills his protectors. }} He approaches the adolescent Prince, but rather than seizing or striking him, he embraces him. Tells him that he is forgiven, not by him, but by his father. Kellhus says that he is no conqueror — he really did come to save Mankind. Kellhus seems to have turned the Gods against him as Yatwer, the Goddess of Birth, sends her ‘son’, the White-Luck Warrior, into the world with the intent of killing the Aspect-Emperor. When Sharacinth, the Matriarch of the Cult of Yatwer is summoned to the Andiamine Heights by Esmenet, Kellhus appears and breaks her will with his sheer force of presence, making her promise to wrest the Cult from Psatma Nannaferi. Kellhus speaks to Esmenet alone, and seems indifferent to the death of their son, Samarmas. He tells her that the Great Ordeal is all that matters before leaving her again. At a Council of Potentates Kellhus moves from lord to lord, declaring the truths they think hidden in their souls. One of the lords assembled, Varalt Sorweel, fears what will happen when Kellhus sees the hatred and treachery smouldering in his own. But when Kellhus comes to him, he congratulates him for grasping the truth and, before everyone assembled, declares him one of the Believer-Kings. ''The White-Luck Warrior'' Kellhus speaks with Nersei Proyas, one of the Exalt-Generals of the Great Ordeal, in his bed chamber. He tells him that the God has allowed him glimpses of the future, and that everything has unfolded in accordance with those glimpses thus far. He says that he has to make decisions he would rather not make alone, dark decisions. Kellhus commands Proyas to bow his head into the flames of his hearth, revealing that Kellhus is able to watch the Men of the Great Ordeal through his fire. Kellhus fears that if the Men of the Ordeal were to learn that the New Empire, the world they’ve left behind in hopes of saving, is slipping into ruin, his host would dissolve — collapse. So he forbids, on pain of death, all Cants of Far-calling. }} Kellhus says that even he will not maintain contact with his Empire, he can no longer afford to look back. At the Eleventh Council of Potentates, Kellhus declares the Breaking of the Great Ordeal. The host is divided into four groups: the Men of the Middle North, under the command of his son, Anasûrimbor Kayûtas; the Ketyai of the East, under Nersei Proyas’s command; the Ketyai of the West, under Coithus Saubon’s command; and the Ketyai of the south under the command of King Sasal Umrapathur. Kellhus, again, summons Proyas to his bed chamber to sit and discuss, as he does at least once a week. They talk about the day Drusas Achamian repudiated Kellhus in Shimeh twenty years prior, that day troubles Proyas as Achamian is someone that he once loved. Proyas had read a summary of the charges made by Achamian against Anasûrimbor Kellhus in the Compendium of the First Holy War, charges that he says he did not believe. Kellhus, however, tells him that the charges are true. }} Kellhus informs Proyas that the Nonman King of Injor-Niyas, has finally answered their call; he has sent them an embassy. Kellhus is to meet the emissary in the Eleven Pole Chamber, before the meeting Kellhus reminds Proyas to forgive the Nonmen their peculiarities and to beware their beauty. The emissary, Nin’sariccas, arrives claiming to have been sent by Nil’giccas. Kellhus asks the Nonman whether Ishterebinth sides with the Great Ordeal, the Nonman, however, reminds him of his forefathers’ treachery, saying that for them, “Anasûrimbor” is the very name of Mannish arrogance and disorder. Kellhus repeats the question and the Nonman says that Ishterebinth will side with the Ordeal on the condition that Dagliash be retaken and the ‘Niom’ be honoured. Kellhus agrees. Toward the end of their meeting the Nonman asks Kellhus why the ‘False Men’, as the Nonmen are known in the Tusk, should lend their strength to the ‘True’, to which Kellhus replies by reminding him of the Womb-Plague. In this scene, Kellhus implies that the Womb-Plague happened four thousand years prior to his meeting with the Nonman. This is likely a mistake. The correct number is closer to five thousand.}} The Niom is a ritual wherein the ancient Nonmen Kings demanded hostages of the Men they dealt with as guarantees: a son, a daughter, and a captive enemy. The two former as a surety against treachery. The latter as a surety against deception. So Kellhus sends them his daughter Serwa, together with Sorweel and his adopted son Moënghus II. After the Second Battle of the Horde, Kellhus declares the Breaking of the Ordeal undone and commands the Armies of the West and the East to converge upon the Army of the Middle-North. Once the armies have gathered, Kellhus calls on his Believer-Kings to assemble, on the summit of a hill called Swaranûl, he gives a speech declaring that the Men of the Great Ordeal shall eat Sranc from that point forward to sustain themselves. The Unholy Consult During the battle for Golgotterath in the closing moments of the Unholy Consult, ''Anasûrimbor Kellhus is destroyed and the Sranc legions obliterated his leaderless armies.''The Unholy Consult, ''Chapter 20 Children Kellhus fathered six children with his second wife Esmenet, four sons and two daughters: * Kayûtas, eldest of the Prince-Imperials and General of the Kidruhil. * Theliopa, eldest daughter of Kellhus and Esmenet. She stays with her mother in Momemn as an advisor. * Serwa, second daughter of Kellhus and Esmenet, and Grandmistress of the Swayal Sisterhood. * Inrilatas, second son of Kellhus and Esmenet, insane and imprisoned on the Andiamine Heights. * Kelmomas, their youngest, the twin of Samarmas. * Samarmas, twin of Kelmomas. Samarmas seems not to have inherited any of his father's Dûnyain traits. Additionally, Kellhus adopted the son of his first wife Serwë, Moënghus II, who was raised as the fraternal twin of Kayûtas. Miracles during the First Holy War According to the ''Encyclopedic Glossary, Kellhus performed three miracles during the Holy War's march on Shimeh, the Miracle of Water, referring to his discovery of water in the wastes of Khemema, and the Miracle of the Circumfixion, referring to his survival of the Circumfix in Caraskand. It's not clear what the third miracle is. Notes References Category:POV characters Category:Prophets Category:Characters from Ishuäl Category:Anasûrimbor Category:Dûnyain Category:Emperors Category:Norsirai Category:Gnostic sorcerers Category:Daimotic sorcerers Category:Great Ordeal Category:Men